The 3rd Brigade Combat Team began returning to Afghanistan in early July. The last batch of soldiers arrived over the weekend.

3rd Brigade Combat Team

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More than 1,300 soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, who were deployed last year to Afghanistan, are now back at Fort Campbell. The last troops arrived over the weekend.

The brigade combat team began returning in early July. During one of the welcome ceremonies last week, which took place in the middle of the night, dozens of soldiers from the 101st Airborne’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team filed off buses into a large gym. They stood in formation in front of awaiting family members.

The Rakkasans, as they're nicknamed, have been overseas since October, primarily to help build up Afghanistan's army, police and security forces. They also worked on counter-terrorism operations against Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

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Dozens of officers from the 101st Airborne are spending part of the week in Nashville, getting face time with business and community leaders. The visit is part of the Army division's efforts to go out of its way to strengthen personal relationships far from the installation at Fort Campbell.

Gunfire from training exercises could be heard outside as Defense Secretary Ash Carter spoke to a room of 200 troops from Fort Campbell heading to Iraq in the coming weeks. He noted that for some in the 101st Airborne Division, this will be a return trip with a new enemy.

“I know the 101st has taken Mosul before, and you could do it again," he said. "We could deploy multiple brigades on the ground and arrive in force. But then it would likely become our fight, and our fight alone.”